mangga add

Saturday, April 28, 2012

The IAE V2500 powered aircraft will undergo a series of proving flights in May as part of its final regulatory approval process, says the airline.

"This is a very exciting milestone for Jetstar Japan and brings us another step closer to connecting people through greater choice, lower fares and more travel options," says its chief executive Miyuki Suzuki.

Jetstar Japan plans to begin domestic operations from July 2012 and plans to expand internationally in 2013, subject to regulatory approval. It will start with a fleet of three A320s before growing to 24 aircraft in the coming years.

You thought the Sonic Cruiser was dead -- sacrificed more than nine years ago for the 787-yielding Super Efficient.

Maybe you also thought Boeing was never really serious about the Sonic Cruiser anyway, unveiling the M0.98 speedster in 2001 only to distract the industry from its decision to drop the 747-X Stretch.

You're probably still right.

And, yet, the Sonic Cruiser is not entirely dead.

Somewhere deep inside Boeing, a team of engineers is even now continuing to fiddle with the last decade's most high-profile conceptual aerospace flop. A new Boeing patent application, which was posted online on 19 April, reveals a new and improved Sonic Cruiser. Filing a patent application, mind you, should not be construed as a confession of even long-term corporate strategy. It's most likely just a project some engineers are fiddling around with. Still, it reveals an interesting new approach to an old and fascinating concept.

The new Sonic Cruiser appears to be just as fast as the original design unveiled by a beaming Alan Mullaly at the 2001 Paris Air Show. Improvements are focused on reducing the nearly supersonic aircraft's noise and heat signatures. Rather than embedding the engines under the wing, high bypass turbofans are installed on top of the fuselage. Vertical stabilizers mounted outboard of each engine shields noise generated by the exhaust, while the long aft deck blocks sound waves aimed at the ground. In addition, Boeing's engineers have proposed variable geometry chevrons on the exhaust nozzles of each engine, which soften the noisy mixing of very hot exhaust air with much cooler ambient air.

Besides the new engine locations, Boeing has also made several aerodynamic changes. The differences are clear by comparing the drawing above with the image shown below, which first appeared in a 2003 Boeing patent filing for the original Sonic Cruiser concept. Notice the differences in shaping in the fuselage, nose and wings.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Lockheed Martin has released these two images of the Navy's F-35C variant flying in formation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. I personally find the CV aircraft to be the best looking of the three versions--but that's partly because it looks more the like an F-22 than the others.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery (OV-103) made its last ever flight today to its final rest home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum annex near Dulles Airport, Washington D.C. Attached to NASA's shuttle carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-100, the combination made multiple low fly passes of the centre of Washington D.C, allowing spectators to get a final view of the historic aircraft.

Credit: Stephen Trimble/Flightglobal

According to the Flightglobal/Ascend SpaceTrak database Discovery flew 39 times, each time successfully reaching orbit - the most-used of the shuttle fleet. Since its first flight in August 1984, the shuttle has been used to deploy commercial, military and scientific satellites, servicing the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station. Discovery made its final launch on STS-133 to the International Space Station on 24 February 2011, finally landing on the 9 March 2011.

Discovery replaces the atmospheric test shuttle Enterprise in the display at the Smithsonian. Enterprise itself will now be moved to a special display operated by the Intrepid aircraft carrier-based Sea, Air and Space Museum on the waterfront of New York City.

Malaysia plans to receive its first Airbus Military A400M transport aircraft in January 2015, with its remaining three examples to be delivered by 2016.

The type will not replace the Royal Malaysian Air Force's (RMAF's) Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, but serve to double the RMAF's airlift capacity, air force commander General Rodzali Daud said in a report by Malaysia national news agency Bernama.

Malaysia operates 14 C-130s, 12 C-130Hs and two C-130T tankers.

Daud made the comments at a ceremony welcoming the A400M "Grizzly 4" airlifter to Kuala Lumpur's Subang air base as part of its debut tour in Asia.

"I have had the pleasure of showing the chief of the RMAF the A400M simulator in France last year and now I look forward to showing him, and his RMAF personnel, the real aircraft flying here in Malaysia," Airbus Military chief test pilot Ed Strongman said in a statement released by the European airframer.

"We have done a lot of work since his last visit to Toulouse and have now completed all the flight test work for the issue of the initial Type Certificate," says Strongman.

After performing demonstration flights for representatives and for regional air forces and other VIPs in Kuala Lumpur, the aircraft will travel to Halim air base in Jakarta, Indonesia, and to the Thai cities of Chiang Mai and Bangkok. It will return to Europe on 20 April.

The A400M's Malaysia debut is timed to coincide with the Defence Services Asia tradeshow in Kuala Lumpur.

Boeing is yet to settle on a wingtip configuration for the 737 Max despite having last week firmed up several key design attributes of its revamped narrowbody twinjet family.

Current 737s are offered with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB)-supplied blended winglets, while the US Navy's 737-based P-8 features 777-style raked wingtips. Boeing's 737 Max chief project engineer and deputy programme manager Michael Teal says the manufacturer is "testing a possible revision to the wing tips on the Max" in the wind tunnel to "see if this new technology could further benefit the airplane".

Boeing says it will continue with aerodynamic, engine and airframe trade studies to optimise the design of the 737 Max by mid-2013.

The US Navy's 737-based P-8 uses 777-style raked wingtips, while current artist impressions of the Max show blended winglets

Patrick LaMoria, chief commercial officer at APB, a Washington-based joint venture that is 45%-owned by Boeing, says there is no guarantee the company will select APB blended winglets for the CFM International Leap-1B-powered 737 Max, set for entry into service in 2017 with launch customer Southwest Airlines.

"We have a lot of long-lead future-oriented plans in place in hopes of working with Boeing for many years to come," says LaMoria. "But Max is still an open question."

Boeing confirms it has decided to adopt a 20.3cm (8in) nose gear extension for the 737 Max, in addition to controlling the new twinjet's spoilers using fly-by-wire. The longer nosegear is needed to accommodate the larger diameter of the Leap-1B engine, provisionally specified with a 1.74m-wide fan, although the precise dimensions could change before the design is frozen in the fourth quarter.

By using the maximum extension in the trade study, Boeing potentially opens the door to slightly increasing the diameter of the turbofan.

Meanwhile, the new Leap-1B engine will be integrated into the wing in a design similar to the 787, the company adds. All flight controls will remain mechanically-driven except for the spoilers, Boeing says. The 737 Max also will adopt an electronic bleed air system, designed to reduce fuel burn without adopting the 787's bleedless architecture.

Boeing also is extending the 737's tail cone and thickening the section above the elevator for the re-engined variant.

The task of military planners if to think years, if not generations, ahead, so no wonder that, while lots of uncertainties still remain over aircraft programmes currently under development, such as the F-35, a RFI has been launched to look into the new US Navy fighter to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler in the 2030s.

Monday, April 16, 2012

The United Kingdom's first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II production jet made its inaugural test flight on 13 April. The aircraft, an F-35B short takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) model, flew a series of functional flight checks during the sortie. Lockheed's Bill Gigliotti was at the controls during the 45-minute flight.

The new aircraft will have to complete a series of company and government tests flights before it is accepted by the UK. This particular aircraft will be used for training and operational tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, beginning later this year, Lockheed says. The Florida base is the home of the US Air Force's 33rdFighter Wing, the first US training wing.

"Not only is this a watershed moment for the Joint Strike Fighter program, since BK-1 is the first international F-35 to fly, but it also brings us one step closer to delivery of this essential 5th Generation capability for the U.K., " said Group Captain Harv Smyth, the Joint Strike Fighter UK National Deputy.

The fact this first UK F-35 is a B-model is slightly awkward, however. The UK had earlier switched from the F-35B model jet to the US Navy's F-35C carrier variant, however the UK's Ministry of Defence is considering reversing that decision. The cost of refitting one of that nation's two carrier, which are currently under construction, with catapult launch and arresting gear have been proving to be greater than the British government anticipated.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Boeing today revealed that it has decided to adopt a 20.3cm (8in) nose gear extension for the 737 Max family, in addition to controling the new twinjet's spoilers using fly-by-wire.

The company's announcement clarifies several key design features first discussed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive Jim Albaugh in November.

Albaugh had previously said the nose-gear extension could range between 15.2-20.3cm, accommodating the larger diameter of the CFM Interanational Leap-1B engine. CFM has initially sized the engine with a 1.74m-wide fan, but the precise dimensions could change before the design is frozen in the fourth quarter. Entry into service for the Max is slated for 2017 with launch customer Southwest Airlines.

By using the maximum extension in the trade study, Boeing potentially opens the door to slightly increasing the diameter of the turbofan. The longer nose gear also means Boeing must alter the door.

Meanwhile, the new CFM Leap-1B engine will be integrated into the wing in a design similar to the 787, the company adds.

All flight controls will remain mechanically-driven except for the spoilers, which will be based on fly-by-wire inputs, Boeing says. The 737 Max also will adopt an "electronic bleed air system", which is also used on the Airbus A350. The electronic bleed air system can reduce fuel burn by improving cabin pressurization and anti-icing systems without adopting the 787's bleed-less architecture.

Boeing also is extending the 737's tail cone and thickening the section above the elevator for the re-engined variant.

Finally, Boeing also could slightly change the wingtips of the 737 Max, but the company provided no details. A revised design is being tested in a wind tunnel, Boeing says.

The company has not yet publicly stated whether the 737 Max will carry winglets built by Aviation Partners Boeing, which this year is providing winglets for all commercial 737s in production.